Sustainable Peacebuilding by Empowering Women in Tripoli

ABOUT

For this project we generated a situation mapping on women’s rights trends in Tripoli.
This was based on a desk review of secondary sources and on conducting a survey and focus groups with
around 500 women inhabitants in the different areas of Tripoli in addition to rapid assessment interviews
with the main international, national and local actors considered as main data validation stakeholders
as primary sources. The overall objective of the analysis report was to conduct a situation analysis of
women’s human rights and gender equality, with an emphasis on legal reforms, participation in decision-making,
political and economic rights and education. The specific objective of the analysis report was to provide an
inventory of national efforts towards the realization of women’s human rights. The analysis was conducted with
constant reference to the CEDAW and highlights the common principles of the two instruments as applied to the
national context.

DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The project “Sustainable Peace Building by Empowering Women in Tripoli” was eight month duration (August 2015 – March 2016). The project was funded through the Norwegian Embassy in Beirut.

The overall objective of the project is to establish infrastructural components for long term peace building processes in Tripoli by empowering women and providing them with instruments, tools and mechanisms for enhancing educational capabilities, opening economic opportunities and promoting political leadership.

The comprehensive objectives of the project are:

1) A situation analysis concerning women’s rights and gender equality in Tripoli including mapping of local and international actors in the city and existing interventions on women’s rights and gender equality in terms of, access to education; skills development; economic opportunities and incentives and local governance

2) Skills development in designing peace building programs, improving their quality, impact and effectiveness addressed primarily to women selected according to the situation analysis above

3) Coalition building for establishing a shared agenda among key actors who were exposed to skills development training

SAMPLE OF FINDINGS

1- Income relative to men (more than men) versus GBV prevalence
The percentage of women who earn more than their partners and the percentage of women who self-reported having been exposed to GBV more than once is positively correlated. Increased women’s earnings potentially heighten the risk of reactionary violence from men.

2- Income relative to men (more than men) versus women as sole decision makers in the household
The percentage of women who are the sole “decision maker” in the household or who have the final say about spending in the household and the percentage of women who earn more than their male partner is positively correlated. This indicates that as women’s economic capacity increases so does this role in making household decisions.

3- Income relative to men (more than men) versus girls’ education
The percentage of women who earn more than their male partner and the percentage of girls who attend both public and private schools/universities is positively correlated. More emphasis is shown towards public school attendances.

CONCLUSIONS

As a follow up to the situation analysis survey, focus groups, key informant interviews and the above gap analysis, there is clearly a lack in female participation on the economic, political, and educational level. The income of women relative to men was shown to be a dominant factor that cross-cuts with girl’s education, GBV, home-based job creation for women and heads of household. Based on the findings of the study, the most prominent action plan that may be suggested in order to boost women and women’s rights to economic participation, in specific, is to promote the creation of home-based businesses that women can start in their own homes, using skills they have already acquired.

One of the different activities that could be suggested include hosting co-ed workshops, that include both men and women, in order to understand the different perceptions each one has towards home-based business creation. Involving husbands in their wives’ potential business prospects is important and it is equally important to find methods of reducing patriarchal objections to women’s business ventures. Thus, further research into the influence of men over women’s economic and political mobilizations is needed.